Rats chewed some of the wiring under my hood

I think that is an easy fix. You need a good soldering iron, solder, wire and heat shrink tubing to do this properly. Crimp on connectors are not that great but can do in a pinch.

I was told the had programming in them is that true?

I have no way of knowing what this wire serves. This appears to me to be a single wire. Probably not a big deal.

remove the negative battery cable before doing the work so you avoid a short.